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Community-Building: Using Our Names to Understand Each Other

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Rationale:  This activity uses students names as a way to build connections and community within the classroom To help students get to know other people in their class To find commonalities around the history of their names Procedure:  Length of Activity: 1-2 class periods: This can be completed in its entirety or not, depending on the time available and goals of the teacher. Intro (15 minutes): Explain to students that they will be using their names to get to know others in the class better and that in most cultures, names have tremendous significance in terms of identifying where a person is from, who his/her ancestors are, and what type of qualities the family hopes that child will possess (or in cases of getting later names at confirmation or after rites of passage is seen to possess).